AN eventful day of cricket has paved the way for an interesting finish to the first four-day match between India A and South Africa A at the BCCI CoE in Bengaluru.
On a day where 14 wickets fell, India A went into stumps at 119/4, still needing 156 runs for a victory. Their hopes will firmly rest on the shoulders of comeback man Rishabh Pant who has already raced to 64*.
South Africa A, who began the day in a position of strength with a lead of 105, lost Jordan Hermann very early in the day without adding to their tally. Zubayr Hamza went on a boundary-hitting spree to add to India’s frustration as the lead swelled to 159 at one point with South Africa having 9 wickets left in their innings.
However, once Manav Suthar broke through by castling Hamza for 37, the home side found an opening to quickly pin the visitors down.
From 84/1, South Africa A were rattled hard and found themselves reeling at 135/7 as Tanush Kotian and Anshul Kamboj ripped through their middle order. At that point, India A would have fancied themselves to bowl out the opposition soon enough but some valuable runs down the order saw South Africa A finish their innings at 199, setting the home side a stiff target of 275.
The task then appeared a lot tougher when Ayush Mhatre and Devdutt Padikkal were sent packing for single-digit scores. After a brief resistance, Sai Sudharsan didn’t last long either as India A were reduced to 32/3 when Pant joined Rajat Patidar out in the middle. Patidar showcased tremendous patience to score 28 off 87 whereas Pant was in his elements, finding the boundary regularly to score at a healthy rate.
While Patidar was eventually dismissed right before stumps, Pant managed to go past fifty and will be crucial to India’s chances on the final day. Cricbuzz)